Neil Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, The Graveyard Book (2008). In 2013, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was voted Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards.

Amanda Palmer is an American performer who first rose to prominence as the lead singer, pianist, and lyricist/composer of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She has had a successful solo career, is also one-half of the duo Evelyn Evelyn, and is the lead singer and songwriter of Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra.

C. Anthony Martignetti, Ph.D., a psychotherapist and writer living in Lexington. He founded the Biscuit Box Theater Company, and the writers’ group, Souled Out Artists, who have been performing shows locally over the past seven years. Though he has regaled the community with public readings of his memoirs for years, his forthcoming and highly anticipated collection of short stories, Lunatic Heroes: Memories, Lies and Reflections, is his first creative venture into the publishing world, outside of professional articles and a chapter in the book, “Unlocking the Emotional Brain” (Sept., 2012);

Amanda Palmer (founder of The Dresden Dolls and Grand Theft Orchestra; Artist of the Year Boston Music Awards 2010); and

Neil Gaiman (author of many books, including Coraline and The Graveyard Book; winner of many awards, including the Newbery and Carnegie Medals for literature).

Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer appear at the Boston Pops New Year’s Eve concert which includes the United States Premiere of the Gaiman’s short film Statuesque. Amanda Palmer also performs.

New Year’s Eve will feature the United States premiere of a short film created by Neil Gaiman called Statuesque, starring Bill Nighy and Amanda Palmer, with Becca Rosenthal and Liam McKean. The original broadcast in the United Kingdom takes place on Sky 1 at 10:00pm on Christmas Day, as part of a larger commission of 12 silent shorts produced by Hilary Bevan Jones for Endor Productions for the “12 Days of Christmas.” The musical score is by Sxip Shirey, also performing that evening.

Bestselling author Neil Gaiman has long been one of the top writers in comics, and also writes books for readers of all ages. He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers, and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama. www.neilgaiman.com